Let Goodness Shine

There have been a couple of amazing tributes to Joel specific to his glass recycling business so I thought I’d provide a little context for those curious.

It started a few years ago as a result of us learning the curbside recycling program we’ve been using for years doesn’t actually recycled the glass. If you wanted to recycle glass, you needed to take it yourself to the bins at the county transfer station. With an idea from a family friend, Joel started a glass recycling business (technically he started with his sisters but they quickly were consumed with other things). For $5 per house, he’d pick up glass once a week and take to the recycling.

To promote it, he had a website and printed out flyers that he hand delivered to town residents. He tracked his transactions in a Google Sheets ledger where he recorded pick ups (credits) and payments (debits). He actually was able to provide statements for each of his customers. When a few customers dropped out, he handed out more flyers to grow the business. Eventually he ended up with 20+ customers.

We got Joel a beach cart to help with the collection. Every Friday he took it for a walk around town and loaded it up with glass. By the time he was finished, it must have weighed 50 lbs. I still have vivid visions of him lugging the heavy cart up our hill. Sometimes when I’m at the end of our driveway, I look down the street in hopes that I see him coming around bend with the cart. No luck.

For the pickups that weren’t walking distance, we’d drive him. Both Monica and I treasured these moments. Hearing him ask “can you take me to pick up glass?” was music to our ears. I can still hear his voice asking that question. I remember the spring to his step when we pulled up to someone’s house. He’d jump out of the car and skip up the customer’s porch stairs two at a time. I feel so blessed to have really experienced these moments. I could have easily been distracted: Checking out news on my phone, scrolling through facebook, or just ruminating on all the stressors of work and life. I didn’t plan on “paying attention”. It just kind of happened. As if God was tapping me on the shoulder.

Make no mistake about it, Joel wasn’t exactly comfortable walking around town pulling a heavy cart essentially filled with garbage. Not really a cool look for your typical teenager. He acknowledged the embarrassment. To him that was the price to pay. Ego wasn’t going to get in the way of capitalizing on a good thing.

Joel’s customer service was impeccable and he learned how to communicate in writing better than many people my age: Professional, positive, and polite. He wrote his own correspondences yet was humble enough to have us proofread. It was rare for us to correct anything. I remember being shocked at the professional tone coming from a 14-year old.

Each week, prior to pick up, Joel would send out reminders to his customers via email or text. For those of you who were recipients of these messages, no doubt there is a smile on your face right now. Here is one example,

“Good evening Ms [last name redacted], I wanted to confirm that I did pick up your glass and received your cash earlier today. Hope you enjoyed the tree-lighting! Have a great weekend!”

One customer responded to Joel’s reminder letting him know no glass this week and to have a nice summer for which he responded:

“Thank you Ms. [name redacted] I’m having a great summer, thanks for asking! Thank you for the heads up and have a great weekend!”

One of his customers told me he offered and helped pull weeds one day. When they offered him money, he turned it down. I only found out about this after he passed. He never mentioned this to me. Another customer shared a similar yet different story with me:

“Our family was out doing yard work one day and Joel was walking by, probably picking up glass, and stopped and asked if he could help us rake leaves.”

Several months after Joel passed away, I introduced myself to Ed Ehlers at a town event. Ed had been running the Resource Recovery Project for probably two years at this point. Since then we signed up as a customer (Sidebar: After getting to know Ed and the Resource Recovery Project, I cannot emphasize enough how impressed I am with how well it is managed and run). Around January, Ed approached us with the idea for a glass collection campaign in honor of Joel. Naturally we said yes.

Even though its for a great cause, it’s hurts to see Joel’s name associated with a memorial. I flip through Facebook and see his name in various feeds. How could this have happened to Joel? To me, my family? His friends? Is he really gone? What I wouldn’t give… one more day, hour, minute or even second. The pain doesn’t subside, you just get used to living in it.

In 2020, 12,278 young lives were lost in the US. Here in Fairfax alone, it’s been a tough year, especially at Robinson. Especially in Clifton. Each year thousands of parents are impacted in the same way. I pray that these families feel supported by their communities in the ways we have. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that goodness doesn’t exist anymore. It’s around us each and every day.

So if I may: for Joel, for all of the children who have lost their lives this year and their families, and friends, by the end of April, let’s help Ed and RRP reach their goal of 3000 lbs of glass recovered.

I’ll leave you with a couple of things… 1) some scripture and 2) additional correspondences from Joel to his customers

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)

Joel’s Correspondences

“Good afternoon, I just wanted to tell you that I will be out of town this week so I will not pick up glass this week. Thank you and have a great day!”

“Our family was out doing yard work one day and Joel was walking by, probably picking up glass, and stopped and asked if he could help us rake leaves.”

“Hello, sorry for the late reply, but I did not see your glass Friday afternoon. If you would like, I could pick it up tomorrow. Thank you and have a great night!”

“Hello, I just wanted to confirm that you had no glass on Friday. If I missed it or you forgot to put it out, I will gladly pick it up A.S.A.P. Thank you and have a great night!”

“Good evening, I was wanting to inform you that you are up to date on all of your payments. Thank you and have a nice night.”

“I just double-checked your payments and I think I accidently counted two of your payments twice, so we are missing $10 from you. If that does not seem correct, I will look at the numbers again.”